comet holmes still visible if you ain't seen it yet...

[tenbyfifty]

..just had a clear spell down 'ere and the comet is still there at a position of 7 or 8 o'clock from Mirfak in Perseus with

the same sort of brightness as the other night, maybe a tad brighter?

I read on another site that it will stay visible for another couple of weeks.

Wish I had a great big mirror to point at it

How much detail can you see with a decent scope?

[supernova]

BIGGER FUZ in my 6in newt

[John]

Just been looking at it with the 10 inch dob - like a big fuzzy fried egg with a bright nucleus. Can see some background stars shining through it. Tonight one side of the comets "halo" seems less well defined than the other side - I wonder if we might see a tail form on the more fuzzy side ?.

John

[Naz]

Had the 200mm dob on it tonight, as you say John, the eastern side was very distinct and to the west it was blurred. Not sure if the point of light near the centre is the comet or a bright star. Too lazy to get the laptop out and check Carte de Ciel.

Anyone know how big the cloud is now? Last I heard was several days ago, and it was about 160,000 Km.

Apart from the missing ( or faint / hidden ) tail, it is one impressive comet when the distance is taken into account.

naz

[supernova]

Just had a look in my bins its getting bigger from Tuesday nights view.

[Hugh]

Anyone know how big the cloud is now? Last I heard was several days ago, and it was about 160,000 Km.

naz

I read 100,000 miles yesterday Naz.

Still looks good tonight in my 6"SCT. Seems like we might see a tail - of sorts....?

Hugh

[supernova]

Anybody know why it went BANG???

[John]

Anybody know why it went BANG???

Have a look at this thread:

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,18866.0.html

Personally I favour the weakening / rupture / outburst theory over the collision - the chances of the latter must be very slim, the nucleus of a comet is only a few KM across I believe.

John

[The Warthog]

It should be visible for a long time yet, although it will get steadily dimmer, unless it has another outburst.

[Casus belli]

Anybody know why it went BANG???

Well as its done this before 150(ish) years ago I'd rule out the collision theory. Much more likely its out-gassing.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Pete's ace image of the growth of this thing shows the dramatic rate of expansion. It appears to my naked eye guess to be getting significantly dimmer as well, but I can only see it occasionally through holes in the clouds tonight so I could easily be wrong there. I'm hoping to get another go at imaging the thing if the clouds all scoot away tonight.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Astroman]

We've had mostly clear skies except one night since the outburst, and nearly constant monitoring. The comet is still bright and growing. I took a look at it with the 10" F/7 last night, and will again this weekend. While the images are great, I submit that there's no view like seeing it with your own eyes. The dynamic range of the human eye can not be beat in this instance. Small scopes or even binoculars do a wonderful job. Crank up the magnification on bright objects like this!

As I've said before, it's nearly impossible to predict how it will look from one day to the next, so each time is a treat!